In my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,162, assigned to the same assignee as the present application, I show, describe and claim apparatus for anchoring a dredge barge with spuds of conventional length in water having a depth in excess of the length of the spuds. The spuds are guided in wells adjacent the lower end of a common spud support which is in the form of a rotatable and reciprocal sleeve with hoist means being mounted on the upper end of the sleeve for controlling the raising and lowering of the spuds within the sleeve. When the spuds are in anchoring condition with the bottom, the wells constitute the sole lateral support for the spuds. Thus should a spud bend, it can almost certainly be raised through the short axial length of the well.
The patented apparatus is satisfactory, particularly for anchoring a dredge barge in exceptionally deep water but it was found to have a problem when it came time to replace a spud. The old spud cannot be easily lifted by apparatus on the dredge barge clear above the sleeve and considerable working time has to be expended just to jack the spud clear of the sleeve and replace it with a new spud.
It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a reciprocal spud support which permits the ready removal of an old spud and replacement by a new one in a minimum of time and with minimum effort and expense.
It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus for accomplishing the foregoing object while still enabling a dredge barge to be anchored in water having a depth greater than the length of the spud.